Electric-drop-light hanger.



H. UHL & U. S. G. BARNHART.

ELECTRIC DROP LIGHT HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.16,1910.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

' United States, residing at 219 Emery street,

l provision of a spring rotated spool or drum will appear as the description proceeds, the

. ,which the drop cord or conductors are enout the several views.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY UHL AND ULYSSES S. GRANT BARNH ART, OF LONGMONT, COLORADO.

E noTnIo-pRoP-LIGHT HANGER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY UHL and ULYSSES S. GRANT BARNHART, citizens of the Longmont, in the county of Boulder and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Drop- Light Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric drop lights and has to do more particularly with a take up device on which the flexible cord conductors are adapted to wind and unwind in adjusting the lamp at any desired height.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and o eration of devices of this character so as to e comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, reliable and eflicient in use and composed .of comparatively few parts.

Another object of the invention is the on which the cord conductors wind and unwmd and a novel grlp or clutch devlce w th gaged to hold the light in any desired posi tion against thetension of the spring which tends to turn the spool in a direction to take up the lamp cord. 1

With these objects in view, and others as invention comprises the various novel fen-- tures of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of the invention ;Figure l is a perspective view of the device shown in use. Fig.2 is a vertical section of the device taken in a plane coincident with-the axis' of the spool. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig.2. Fig. -5 isa bottom plan View of the device.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts through- Referring to the drawing, A designates the winding cr take-up device, which is adapted to be secured to the ceiling or some overhead support, and suspended from the device by a two-wire flexible cord 1 is a lamp 2, and this lamp is adjustable to-any Specification of Letters Patent.

, ing spring.

height in order to place the light in the best position.

l The device A comprises a box or casing 3,

which is fastened by screws or other devices 1 to the ceiling, and arranged in the casing is a spool or drum 5 that freely rotates on a horizontal shaft 6 which has non-circular ends disposed in grooves 7 in the inner faces V of the end walls of the casing, 'the said grooves extending to the open top of the latter so that the shaft and spool can be readily lifted out or inserted. At one end of the spool is a spiral spring 8 that has its outer end fastened at 9 to the spool and its inner end fastened at 10 to the shaft, and this spring, which is housed by a cap '11, has its coils so arranged that when thelamp is pulled downwardly, the spring will be placed under tension so as to take up the lamp cord whenever it is desired to raise the lamp. The lamp cord 1 winds around Patented J an. 17, 1911.

Application filed April 16, 1910. Serial No. 555,840.

the spool or drum and passes out of the box through an opening 12 in the bottom of the same and the ends of the conductors that form the lamp cord 'pass through openings 13 and 14 in the spool and are connected with collector rings 15 and '16 respectively secured to and insulated from each other on the end of the spool opposite from the wind- Arranged in the box or casing are brushes 17 and 18 which bear on the rings 15 and 16, respectively, and these brushes are connectedat a point outside the casing with the wires 19 and 20 of a lighting circuit.

In order to hold the lamp cord fixed in any desired position of adjustment of the lamp, the bottom of the casing has a slot 21 leading from one side of the cord opening 12, and into this slot the cord can be wedged to prevent the spring of the spool vided a yielding gripping jaw 22 disposed at one side of the slot and so arranged as to pinch the cord between it and the opposite edge of the slot. The jaw yields .downwardly so that it is merely necessary to pull downwardly on the cord and then exert a lateral pull to disengage the cord from the slot and move it lnto the opening 12 which is large enough to permit the cord to work freely up or down. After the cord has been ulled' down or taken up in placing the lamp 1n the desired position, it is merely necessaryto pull laterally on the cord in a direction to enter it in the slot 21 where "it will be held by a yielding jaw.'

F rom the foregolng'descripuon taken in connection with the accompanvmgdrawmgs',

the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, and While we have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the device which we now consider to be the best embodiment therof, we desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be madewhen desired as are within the scope of the claims. What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v I j 1. A device of the class described including a drum, a spring tending constantly to turn-the drum ina' given direction, a cord conductor adapted to be wound on the drum by the expansion of the spring, a casing in which the drum is mounted, said casing having an opening in its bottom through which the cord conductor passes, there being a slot extending from one side of the opening, a jaw extending longitudinally of the slot at one side thereof and mounted to swing downwardly for permitting the cord conductor to be entered in the slot, said jaw being of such width as to preveiit it from being drawn into the casing by the tension of the spring acting on the cord conductor, the free edge of the jaw serving to press the cord conductor against the edge of the slot to prevent the cord conductor from winding while it is disposed ,in the slot.

2. A device of the class described comprising a casing having an opening in its bottom and a slot leading from the opening, a lamp suspending element freely movable through the opening and adaptedto be engaged in the slot, a take-up means in the casing for the element, and a downwardly yielding jaw secured to the underside of the bottom of the casing and extending longitudinally of the slot at one edge thereof for gripping the element between the jaw and opposite edge of the slot, said jaw terminatingat the opening. In testlmony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY UHL. i

ULYSSES S. GRANT BARNHART. 

